Bane vs Mal'akh
by Hunter Predator
Summary: As Mal'akh sees his plans unfold perfectly, and has Robert Langdon and Peter Solomon hold the way for him to succeed, someone else enters the scene. An equally intelligent, masked stranger with an agenda of his own, Bane will be sure to thwart Mal'akh's plan to become a god, with or without Langdon's help.
1. Preview

** A/N: It's been a couple of years since I have written fanfiction Anyway, I saw _The Dark Knight Rises_ last week and really enjoyed it. I was also finished reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol at the same time and just couldn't put it down. I saw some similarities between the two really great villains, Bane and Mal'akh, and wondered what might happen if they met. This is only a snippet, and takes place at the climax of The Lost Symbol for anyone who has read it. I hope you enjoy., and let me know what you think please. Thanks!**

* * *

_**Bane vs Malakh**_

"Ah, Mr. Solomon. Please, do step forward." Bane said with his slow, pained voice as he walked out from the shadows and toward the two men. Mal'akh's heart raced as he scowled. What was this masked madman doing here? How did he find them? Robert Langdon was still in his basement, trapped. Peter was quite confused, however. For a moment the pain wracking his body ceased as he tried to make sense of this masked man. His fingers wrapped around the neck of his green Kevlar vest, Bane did not mind the black Under-Armor that hugged his form so tightly, even as it made him sweat in this warm but sacred Masonic chamber.

On the other hand, Mal'akh, wearing only his loin cloth, narrowed his eyes at the brutish figure as he continued to lazily approach them. Looking to the tattooed man with hesitation, Peter slowly began to stand up from his wheelchair, his handless right limb crying out in pain with his fresh, bandaged wound.

"No." Bane said ominously. "I mean the _other_ Solomon." Both Peter and Mal'akh felt their hearts race when the elder gentleman turned to the hulking man beside him. He looked into his grey eyes, when his world split. Impossible, he thought.

"You've done well to put everything together." Zachary Solomon said with a breathy whisper. "Just who are you? Really?"

"I had no name when I first met you Mr. Solomon. I was but a prisoner, born to be, destined to be. You claim to be a god, a god risen from the shadows, but I..." Bane brought his bulking arms outward to better present himself. "_I was born in the shadows!" _

"Enough!" Mal'akh spat when he brought his sacred dagger up. "Tell me who you really are."

"They call me Bane now. I was the one with you the night your father left you in that prison Mr. Solomon. Wealth or wisdom was it? You said to me your father gave you that choice. I was the one who tried to save that young man's life when you killed him and claimed him as yourself. I was the one you left to rot that day. You did to me just as your father did to you." Zachary's eyes widened, just as his father's.

"You…you…"

"Yes Mr. Solomon. I have been following you for many years now. I nearly had you in Italy so many years ago, but now here we stand. You, and I, Mr. Solomon." Just then the heavy wooden doors behind them burst open as Professor Langdon appeared. Though a middle-aged man in top shape, he still appeared out of breath as sweat began to soak through his turtleneck sweater. His eyes widened at the glorious sight of the House of the Temple before them.

"Robert!" Peter called out, immediately attracting Langdon's attention. Mal'akh's blood boiled. His careful plans, years of work and dedication, meticulously thought out and orchestrated in his mind, undone by mere moments.

"Ah, Professor Langdon. Good for you to join us. I see you made it out of that mansion in one piece." Bane said as he turned. Robert narrowed his eyesat him. _Yeah, no thanks to you. _"You're just in time to keep the world as we know it from ending."

"You're wrong you fool!" Mal'akh cried in an uncharacteristic bellow. "The world will change tonight, and I will become a god. Now you will only help me." Zachary's grey eyes glanced to the laptop computer lying on the ground at Peter's feet, when he dropped to a knee and pushed a key. "Now then, shall we Peter?" He flipped the dagger in his hand around and placed its ivory handle into Mr. Solomon's palm. He took his fingers and wrapped them around its hilt.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked softly.

"For me to ascend from this body, a sacrifice must be made." Mal'akh replied. "A blood sacrifice. And there is no other person better suited than you, the man who was Zachary Solomon's father. And I shall be the sacrifice."

"Zachary…" Peter's eyes began to fill with tears.

"He is dead Peter. He has been for many years. All because of you. Now do it. Kill me. If you want to save your sister and your precious brotherhood you will have to do this." Peter looked down at the laptop, where a bar appeared. _12%_. "That's right Peter. If you don't kill me, the footage of your Masonic rituals shall be sent to all the world's great news centers. Your order will be extinguished, and your brotherhood ended, just as your mother's life, and if you don't act, your sister's."

"She was your grandmother!" Peter cried. Mal'akh smirked when he placed the dagger at his chest.

"Do it." He whispered. Peter Solomon felt his heart and mind race as emotions and thoughts ran rampant. This tattooed giant, a twisted version of his little boy. A fanatic, he had done everything in his plan perfectly. From infiltrating the Masonic Order, to acting as his personal psychiatrist, Dr. Abaddon. Mal'akh was soon to fulfill his years of work in this one night. That's when they could hear a distant church bell chime. Once. Twice.

Before the bell chimed a third time, and Mal'akh felt the blade's wicked tip push into his chest, something stirred. Both he and Peter looked upward, just as a heavy fist crashed into Zachary's cheek. Though a muscle-bound man himself, Mal'akh reeled from Bane's assault, stumbling backward toward the stone slab before them. He wiped at the corner of his mouth then lunged forward with a vicious growl.

As Mal'akh and Bane clashed, throwing muscle-packed arms back and forth, and no signs of stopping as fists slammed against one another, Peter looked down at the laptop. _24%_. The two brutes continued to fight with no sign of stopping. Even without any protection of his own, Mal'akh seemed to take Bane's heavy punches to his gut and sides with surprising strength. Likely a result of the years upon years of steroid usage at his Italian villa as the man named Andros.

Meanwhile Robert Langdon stood in awe, unsure of what to do or make of the situation before him. On one hand, the man behind the night's destructive events was in the path of a wrecking ball, and yet, as he had witnessed, it was still Peter's son. He brought his arms up and rushed toward them. He only wondered what would happen if the CIA director Inoue Sato would do if she was here with Agent Simkins.

"Enough! Stop this!" He cried. Finally Peter, with tears rolling down his cheeks, stood up weakly and turned to the two hulking men. Bane was the only one to acknowledge Mr. Langdon when a heavy fist crashed into the side of his gasmask. Though it tore at Mal'akh's carefully tended-to skin, he felt a certain satisfaction as his opponent's mask split apart slightly. A white gas began to hiss out of the split pipes when Bane turned.

Pain wracking his body, adrenaline and rage overwhelmed it all as the masked man narrowed his eyes. That mask had been the only thing keeping him from such enormous pain for all these years. He jumped forward, narrowing missing Mal'akh when he crashed his fists down. A section of the stone slab before him crumbled under his strength as the angered brute turned and fell onto his back, right on the slab as the younger Solomon pounced. Even Bane was surprised by his strength, when the pain began to overwhelm him.

"You will witness the emergence of a new era." Mal'akh said in his soft but confident tone. "My transformation shall be complete, and you have had the honor of witnessing Zachary Solomon, a frail young man, become a god in league with the Pantheon!" Bane was becoming too weak and in far too much pain to fight off the muscular man when Mal'akh tossed him off to the side, landing with a heavy thump onto the tile floor. He glanced at the laptop. _36%_. The tattooed man turned to Peter Solomon with the knife still in his hand, eyes narrowed. "What are you waiting for? Do it!"

Peter felt his single hand begin to tremble as his mind raced. This tattooed man, the one who had kidnapped him, who had chopped his right hand off, and who threatened to kill his sister and Robert Langdon, was his son. He still had trouble picturing his beautiful baby boy as this monstrosity.

"Do it Father!" Zachary demanded, tugging at Peter's heartstrings. "You choose. Me, or your sister and your brotherhood." Robert couldn't interfere with the Solomon confrontation. No. As he ran around Zachary Solomon, whose sights were set exclusively on his tearful father, the symbologist dropped to his knees next to the brute known as Bane. His eyes half-open, his tooth-like mask was now crooked and broken, but not shattered. He looked at Robert in a daze, as he was in danger of going into shock from the pain all over his body. A few, inaudible groans passed through his mask, when he weakly brought a finger up and pointed up to it.

Robert Langdon didn't need to have precise instructions as he began to piece Bane's tattered mask back together. The teeth-like projections, it turned out, were in fact tubes, and as Langdon reconnected each one, he found that these tubes helped to qualm the pain wracking this man's body. Slowly but surely, the brute's eyes began to find strength once more, when he blinked with a lively spark. Bane's dark eyes narrowed at Professor Langdon. He nodded to the college professor.

_Thank you Mr. Langdon._

Peter, conflicted between his loved ones and his son, clenched his jaw before crying out. Bringing the legendary blade up, the one supposedly used by Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac to God, he lunged forward just as another jumped for Mal'akh. A hand came up and cupped the back of Zachary's head. Before the man could respond, Bane forced him around and swung him into the stone Masonic slab before them. Mal'akh's vision went white as his body went numb. The force behind Bane's hand forcing him into hard stone likely gave him a minor concussion, but as he stumbled to his feet, he reminded himself that in mere moments it wouldn't matter. A hand graced the meticulously tattooed features on his face, gracing them as if they were sacred treasures. He looked over his shoulder at the laptop.

_57%._

* * *

**_That's all I have right now. Had a lot of fun writing it, but I don't know if I'll finish it. Just curious as to what you guys thought of it. Thanks for reading!_**


	2. Chapter 1

**Bane vs Mal'akh**

**Chapter 1**

Peter hadn't returned any of her calls. Katherine Solomon furrowed her brow as she sat in her car, sending him yet another text message. _Hey Peter. Plz return my calls. Worried. – Sis_. She sighed and looked up. One couldn't even begin to count the number of calls she had sent her older brother. Peter Solomon, Head of the Smithsonian Institute, philanthropist billionaire, and occasional lecturer were just a few notable titles attached to his prestigious character. Days prior he had just returned from Gotham City, meeting with old friend and now recluse Bruce Wayne. Katherine found it sad, as she tried to imagine the lively, handsome young man Peter had introduced her to so many years ago. From what Peter told her, he was now weak, had a scraggily beard, and had grown anti-social.

Katherine sat in her car for some time, clutching the cell phone in the hopes that it might vibrate in her hands. Nothing. With a gulp the dark-haired beauty ran a finger over her ear, pushing back a tuff of hair before opening the door. She swung her legs around and her heels hit hard pavement. With a sigh she locked her car and began to walk toward the Smithsonian Institute. A building full of different chambers, or pods, Peter had given Katherine private access into one that had yet to be fully renovated and used. He had been so kind as to allow her research of Noetic Science to occur there, inside a small, state-of-the-art cube-shaped structure. Peter had spared no expense for his little sister's work to progress, as was his nature. Katherine looked back down at her phone when she sensed something ominous stirring about.

She looked around, relatively unafraid so long as she stayed in the open. Smithsonian cameras dotted the entire place, and the grounds remained well-lit all night long. Amazingly so, she thought as she dared not look into one out of fear of blinding herself. As the middle-aged woman continued along, she felt eyes on her. They weren't cameras either. No, these eyes belonged to a man who knew her well. Eyes that burned with hatred, and his heart black as night. Katherine looked over her shoulder a saw a limousine drive past the Smithsonian parking lot and on down the road. Likely another politician, she thought, though it seemed late for some old guy in a suit to be out on a ride.

She entered the building and nodded to the security guard at the front desk. He swiftly threw his headphones off as he sat up. The baseball game. Everyone in D.C. was tuned into it, so Katherine only smiled as she walked past, offering a soft hello when the guard slowly brought his _Bose_ headphones back up.

On her long walk to Pod 5, Katherine often felt as if she had to turn, as if some sort of shadow was following her. Nothing. She did this several times, and each time she checked her phone for any sign of Peter. Still, he had yet to respond. Finally she turned down a less-than-well-lit corridor, and nearly felt her heart explode in panic.

"Miss Solomon. A pleasure." Said a man with a very peculiar voice. Concealed in shadow, she could only make out his general outline, and quite literally, he was anything but puny. He apparently had his fingers wrapped around what looked like the collar of a wool coat. With heavy boots hitting the floor, the giant lazily stepped toward her, where a sliver of light revealed him. The woman's heart raced.

"Security!" Katherine cried when she turned back to this frightening man.

"They're all lost in the game Miss Solomon." The masked man said. That's when Katherine took the split moment to better study him. He had some sort of gasmask on, as his breathing quickly reminded her of Darth Vader, with three bands wrapped around his face, so that only his dark eyes were apparent. At least 6'5, Katherine couldn't make out the rest of him in detail, as the thick coat hid his true size, though she was sure it was impressive.

"What do you want?" She said as she brought up the phone. "Scare me half to death like that and I'll call the police I swear to God." The man said nothing as his dark eyes met with Katherine's. His mask, which harbored almost skeletal, teeth-like features along his mouth, perhaps frightened her the most. Swallowing, the scientist hesitated, just before her thumb met with her iPhone's _Send_ button.

"I would like to speak to you about your brother Peter." Katherine felt his heart race. Almost immediately she worried that this masked thug likely kidnapped him. She pulled the phone back down.

"Peter? Where is he?"

"I wanted to know that myself."

"He…he hasn't been responding to any of my messages. I haven't spoken with him since yesterday."

"Interesting." Bane replied as he brought his head up high. That was when Katherine could clearly see how thick this man's neck was. A trip to gallows couldn't even break that thing, she thought. His eyes shifted when he looked back down at her. She could only imagine what sorts of things those dark eyes had ever set sights on in his time. The thought frightened her slightly. "I do hope he's alright…"

"Who…who are you? How do you know Peter?" The man was silent for some time, until Katherine felt extraordinarily uncomfortable. He narrowed his eyes.

"Just like any ordinary man outside of your family, I simply know _of_ Peter Solomon."

"Then why have you asked about him?"

"Because Miss Solomon I do believe your brother has been kidnapped."

"What?" Katherine gasped.

"I would find it suiting if we discussed this in a more secluded area. You wouldn't know of such a place, would you?" Bane's eyes flashed up at her expectantly. He knew too well she did. Katherine's breath was fleeting, but even though this masked man might offer her some answers, she wasn't one to so easily lend her trust over.

"You never answered my question." She replied. "Who are you?" The man nodded. Well done Miss Solomon.

"I wish I could tell you myself. But you may call me Bane, Miss Solomon."

"Bane? That's awfully cartoony." She offered a weak laugh in a bid to break the tension hanging over them. The man said nothing as Katherine admitted defeat. It was probably best not to irritate the only man around who had an inkling of what had happened to Peter. "Alright…I do know a place. My lab. We'll chat there but as soon as we're finished you have to leave." Bane nodded in self-satisfaction.

"You have my word." Bane let the elegant but aged Katherine Solomon lead the way as she walked them down the countless corridors of the Smithsonian. They began to pass Pod doors. He could only imagine what treasures and vast knowledge lay locked behind them all. They came to the end of the chamber, where there was only a door with a keypad next to it. Katherine hovered close over it, so that Bane could not eye the combination when she scanned her ID over the electronic above it. The heavy metal door slid open, and the two stepped into pitch darkness.

"There's a strip of carpet." Katherine said. "Just follow it, and it will guide you."

"I have another idea." Bane replied as he rested a massive, heavy hand on her shoulder. With a gulp, she could only imagine the strength this brute had judging just from the weight on her shoulder. Together they made the long walk through the dank pod. Just as it had the first night she came here with Peter, Katherine was terrified. Alone in the dark chamber with this mysterious stranger, she found it best not to shrug him off out of fear.

Finally they came to a halt, when Katherine typed in another code. A door slid open, and they found themselves in a white, steroid laboratory. It was where she had conducted her countless Noetic experiments, and a haven of sorts to her normally. Katherine found it odd that this man did not ask her of what she did in this secluded place, a secret laboratory within Smithsonian halls, unseen by the rest of the world. She led him to a small study, where she and Peter had read countless books of history and science together. Compared to the rest of the facility, this place was more homely and comforting. She offered him a seat in one of the leather chairs, but Bane preferred to stand, as his fingers wrapped around the collar of his vest and eyes ran across numerous titles on the wall's bookcase.

"Now, about Peter." Katherine said as she turned and crossed her arms.

"As I said to you before. I believe he's been kidnapped."

"Yes? By who?"

"I wouldn't be here if I knew, Miss Solomon." Great, Katherine thought. She looked at her watch. "Perhaps you have some insight."

"I'm sorry, but I have an appointment with Dr. Abaddon, Peter's psychiatrist. He's told me Peter has been in bad shape as of late. He might be able to help us if we speak with him."

"Dr. Abaddon you say?" Bane replied ominously.

"Do you know him?" Katherine cocked her head as she looked at Bane's eyes, which seemed to reflect the gears grinding in his head. As they were the only facial features she could make out, she found them fascinating no less. With a blink, Bane was back, and he looked back to her.

"No. No I do not. You say he's on his way here? To your laboratory?"

"Yes, but I don't know what…" Katherine felt her pocket spring to life as her cell phone vibrated. She felt her heart raced as she quickly fumbled it out. _Robert Langdon_. She answered it. Bane listened intently to their conversation, as she also told him about Dr. Abaddon coming to visit. He knew quite well who the professor was, recognizing his faint voice from the other end. A symbologist, he also knew that the man was in Washington this evening under false pretenses. He could just barely make out his voice when he watched Katherine's face grow pale.

_"Katherine, listen to me very carefully. Get out, right now!" _She looked up at Bane, who nodded.

"The fire rises."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Dr. Abbadon was a blond-haired, tan-skinned man of a muscular build. Handsome and speaking with a soft, educated tone, he had arrived at the Smithsonian Institute in a limousine. He wasn't in the back, however. Rather, he drove it. Beneath his disguise, the man known as Mal'akh was let in by the front desk's security guard with surprising ease. Cops in Washington D.C. were not likely to pull over a limousine, one that might likely have a senator as a passenger.

A chunky woman named Trish had greeted and then led him toward Pod 5, but with this unforeseen obstacle in his way, Mal'akh had convinced her of a tour into Pod 4. A chamber filled with animal specimens locked in ethanol, including a monstrous-sized squid, Mal'akh had done away with the young woman by drowning her in the squid's tank. With her key card and the keypad combination forced out of her before her death, Dr. Abaddon made his way toward Pod 5, typed in the code, and stuck a dime into the keys, jamming it should any guards try to get in.

Katherine Solomon and her research were within his grasp.

* * *

"He told me to get out. To get away. We have to hurry. We can talk in the car." Katherine said as she hurried herself back to the entrance of the lab. "I told my lab assistant to let Dr. Abaddon in, but I'll text her and tell her not to…"

"Professor Langdon is correct." Bane said with a sense of urgency in his voice. "Don't mind your assistant, she will be fine." Katherine and the masked brute made their way back into the pitch black void when they started back down the carpet path. Then, Katherine began to be overwhelmed by the smell of ethanol, soon heard a steady breathing in the vast expanse that wasn't Bane's. Someone was with them. She realized their exit from the lab had given them away immediately. Taking a deep gulp, she slipped her shoes off and started away from the carpet.

When one of her toes cracked, Mal'akh was alerted of her presence. A long, terrifying chase ensued, when the muscular man nearly had her after tearing most of his ethanol-reeking clothes off. She managed to escape through a breach in the pod, and on toward her car. Fear rushing through her veins, Katherine Solomon didn't take a moment, not even as Mal'akh punched her car window in, to realize that not only did she leave the man known as Bane behind, but that he hadn't even accompanied her out in the void in the first place.

While Katherine had escaped, Mal'akh returned to her laboratory. His mission was simple: destroy her research. The common man could never be trusted with the knowledge the younger Solomon had spent years working on, and as such, on his night of transformation, Mal'akh would find that it could only be destroyed. He entered the lab with his head held high. As he stepped foot onto the cold tile floor, however, he quickly felt a presence looming in this small lab.

Wishing to spend as little time as possible in this place before blowing it to high heaven, Mal'akh strode on past Katherine's study, toward her more precious research containers. He continued on, lighting his fuse and beginning to rush back out when he stopped short. Peering through a panel of glass, he spotted someone in the study, sitting in one of the leather chairs. As he could only see the man's legs, Mal'akh entered, lazily strolling on by as he met eyes with the strange figure.

"Dr. Abaddon I presume." Bane said. Mal'akh cocked his head, the bronzer makeup concealing his tattoos glowing in the light of the chamber. During his struggle with Katherine, she had scratched at his cheek, tearing away four strips of makeup and revealing a small portion of the tattoos adorning his entire body. He looked at this ominous masked man, who had relieved himself of his heavy coat, and appeared fully in his Kevlar vest and black Under-Armor. A militaristic-looking man with bulging arms, Mal'akh smiled at the brute and his odd voice, the least bit intimidated by a costume.

"Katherine Solomon hired a bodyguard has she? A terrible one I might add."

"I trust you ended her."

"No." Mal'akh's words oozed with contempt. "But on this night, I will see to it that no one sees her research. You would not stop me?"

"Miss Solomon's research is but the least of my concern."

"Oh?"

"You are." Mal'akh's grin widened. So there were others aware of his coming transformation? Bane stood tall, standing over Mal'akh a few inches, though both men were of respectable size and build. "_Mr. Solomon…_" Mal'akh felt his heart race.

"What did you say?" He staggered back toward the door, memories flooding back into his mind that it proved to be overwhelming.

"I've come to end you." Bane replied as he brought his hands up and wrapped his fingers around the collar of his vest. Mal'akh grinned.

"You have me mistaken." He sneered. "I am Mal'akh, soon to be one with the gods."

"Even in your position you find it appropriate to act vain."

"My position? Enough of this. You are hardly in any position to speak yourself. You will go up with the rest of this facility on this night." Mal'akh took a few more steps back and reached for the entrance pad beside the door. Prepared to lock the door with Bane inside, he was surprised to find the masked brute on top of him as he was tackled into a wall and an elbow swiftly crashed into his jaw. The force behind this man's arm was unbelievable, as his vision went white and his senses blurry. It was a miracle his jaw wasn't broken, as the makeup on his face was now further smeared, better revealing the tattoos along his cheek.

In retaliation Mal'akh brought a hulking leg up and kneed the man in the gut. Though hardly winded, Bane stumbled back more in surprise when he looked up. The tattooed man gave a roaring cry as he brought a powerful fist forward. It never made contact with the man's gasmask, however, as Bane effortlessly caught it in his hand. For a moment, the two men's bulging muscles fought for dominance, as Bane looked from Mal'akh's hand to his face. Despite this man's strength, Mal'akh was hardly unnerved by this unexpected arrival. If he could only distract him and escape, he could further his plans and complete his destiny. He smiled. Fate had delivered to him a worthy adversary. Still, it was apparent by Bane's pose that he had the upper hand.

"Tell me your name. I'd care to know my challenger's name before they die."

"Mal'akh now is it?" Bane took a Vader-esque breath and nodded. "You were Dr. Abaddon but a moment ago." Feeling the muscles in his arm burning, Mal'akh swiftly pulled it the right, narrowly releasing himself from Bane's grip. Then, with a prideful smirk, he brought his leg back up and kicked the brute with a powerful heave. Air escaped from Bane's mask as he reeled backward, tripping onto his back in Katherine's study before looking up.

Bane looked up while getting back to his feet when Mal'akh smiled softly and waved before taking off at an astounding speed. The masked brute only narrowed his eyes as his target had escaped him. Retreating from Pod 5 in bounding strides, Mal'akh used the previous route he had taken to chase Katherine Solomon out into the Smithsonian yard, and from there, back to his limousine. His heart pounding, he quickly looked around for any signs of Bane, but there were none. Then, with a satisfied grin, the near-naked man quickly drove out of the parking lot and as far away from the institute as he could.

Mal'akh surely wouldn't want to be around that explosion.


End file.
